Toppless72

I think I would rather see this than the two drivers that ran me off the road while texting just yesterday. At least he's looking at the road. It appears he's been stopped and the trooper is about to inquire just what was he thinking.

Well, We all know the company's say these are the only exchanges but the hot rodders and backyard do it yourselfers have been proving them wrong for years. I say try it out and see if it will work. We can't always go by the book. JC

CK, If you decide not to go with new glass, the only vehicle that shares the rear quarter glass is the Olds F85, Hardtop, Cutlass Supreme - 1970-1972. This is the one with the square roof, not the fastback. P/Ns are: 8781144 Clear, RH 8781145 Clear, LH 8781146 Tinted, RH 8781147 Tinted, LH NAGS# Q4417 RH - (National Auto Glass Specifications) NAGS# Q4418 LH Mitchell number 1783 "Quarter window" JC

Thanks Dennis, Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't when I post them. (mostly don't)

Here is just about everything you would need to know about the Muncie 4 speed.

I started it for the first time since last June. She started right up and sounded good. I let it run about 10 minutes. I keep it stored at a friend's house 38 miles away from my house. This is also the first time I've seen it since last June.

Unplug it and see what stops working. That way you'll know for sure.

Scott, I'm glad you found it. Searching out those electrical gremlins is my favorite part of tinkering with these old buggies. Joe

I agree with Bob. My '72 is all original and has never been restored. It has the faintest hint of overspray of body color at the edges but for the most part it has a very thin coating of surface rust under there.

Scott, As Robert has explained, the dial lamp is powered by the gray 20g. wire in the original radio. It just lights the dial so it can be seen at night. It’s controlled by the headlight switch and only receives 12 volts positive when the headlight switch is moved to the parking light mode. It remains energized when the headlight switch is moved the full headlamp mode. The issue you have is that a switched 12 volt power source is connected into your parking light circuit after your headlamp switch. Behind the instrument panel all the factory lighting for the instrumentation is via the cluster printed board or, by 20g. gray wires running to the heater control unit and in the harness to the radio. Also, if your car has a console, there will be a gray wire in the harness running to it to illuminate the shift indicator when the headlamps/parking lamps are on. Unless something else has been added, by your discovery of the radio fuse causing the lights to go off, it’s clear the yellow power wire in the original radio harness is making contact with the lighting circuit wiring. The yellow wire comes directly from the fuse panel to the radio. Nothing else should be connected to this yellow wire. The gray wire also comes from the fuse box and just behind the instrument panel it will split into three wires. One goes to the radio, one to the heater control unit and one to the harness that plugs into the back of the cluster. Your mission is to insure these wires are not contacting anything. I still believe your power wire for the radio is contacting the gray wire for the lighting circuit somewhere. Please let us know what you find out.

Scott, Make sure if you disconnected the radio that the gray wire is not making contact with any other wire.

Make sure you have the shifter in the park position all the way. If the car is a floor shift grasp the lower collar of the column where it goes into the dash and try to rotate it counter clockwise while trying to turn the key to the lock position. If that doesn’t work, remove the lock cylinder and reinstall it. If that doesn't solve the problem, remove the 2 screws that hold the ignition switch to the column down by the brake peddle and try turning the key to the lock position. If it turns, inspect the switch for damage. You can operate the switch with a small screwdriver to see if it functions correctly. If all that seems fine, but the key still does not turn, you may have to remove the upper bowl and inspect the sector gear that operates the switch rod rack on the left side of the steering column.

Scott, Do you have an aftermarket radio in the car? If so, the problem could be at the radio hook up. If the radio power wire (20g yellow) is connected to the wire that powers the dial lamp (20g gray) it will reverse feed the whole parking light circuit. Here is where I would start. With the key on and the headlight switch off, start pulling fuses one by one and see when the lights go off. That will be the circuit to trace down for the problem.

If your car is a 1972 I believe what you're referring to is a delay relay that is tied into the engine temperature sending unit that holds the car in low gear until the engine is warmed up slightly. If I'm correct, only 1972 cars that were equipped with "CXL" V8s and the six cylinders used that relay. You can see the relay shown on the wiring diagram in the 1972 service manual on page 12-69. It states "EXCEPT MONTE CARLO". So I'm thinking it's not used on you car. On the diagram its signal power comes from the radio plug via a 20g. tan wire. There may be other members that have better knowledge of that system that can confirm what the plug is for.

Just a thought... You could eleminate the "kill switch" and power the circuit with a delay relay. It would not allow power to the HEI until the set point threshold was met. Once it had reached it's set point resistance it would close and complete the circuit allowing power to the HEI. Again... Just a thought.

Well, of course I'm guessing here but based on what you’re describing I have a couple of thoughts. If you have no starter function here is where you could start looking for the problem. 1. The plastic gear on the end of the pin that operates the starter switch rod has stripped. It engages a rack and as the key is turned, it pulls the rack connected to the rod going to the switch on the lower column. If the gear strips it will bind not allowing the key to return to the proper position to remove it. 2. The starter switch has failed in some way causing it to bind preventing the switch from returning to the lock position. Therefore the key cannot be removed. I would remove the two 3/8 or 5/16 screws holding the starter switch to the column and see if the key will rotate to the lock position. This will tell you if the switch is bad or if you have a bigger problem in the column it’s self with the gear and rack.

The book shows a 211. That is a 12 candle power. .37" dia. and 1.72" long.

I agree with Robert on the aftermarket radio. I just identified this problem on a friends Blazer. His would kill a fully charged battery in two days if he didn't drive it.

Heff is correct. The brackets are different for the 350 vs. the 400. The shape of the bracket is different and the bolt hole spacing is different too.

Is the 1 for "First shift" maybe?

Back in 2007 I had the same question. This was the reply I got from member Rich G. "According to the assembly manual, it is mounted on the right hand side of the glove box. The hole is 9/16" diameter. The center of the hole is 6 21/32" from the back of the glove box and 2 9/32" up from the bottom of the box". Thanks again Rich. Joe

Well, I guess that won't work... unless you wanted to change your car to a Monte/Impala. LOL

My father had a 1974 Impala Custom. The emblems were the same as my first '72 M/C Custom. So, there may be other sources to get them.

I have found some RPO numbers on the build sheet for my '72 Kansas City built M/C Custom that are not on this list. I'm not sure if they should be but here they are. C01 = Body Emblem Variant 2 P93 = G70x15 B/wall ZK1 = Insulation PKG Z03 = M/C Custom XXX = Customer order (pre-ordered unit) Thanks

I put a half vinyl top on a '77 Monte back in the 80's. I was very surprised how easy it was. It came out looking like the factory. If you can let the material get warm in the sun that will help. Then, don’t pull it too tight. It will shrink in cold weather and pull loose around the edges if it’s too tight. Use 3M adhesive and allow it to get tacky before laying it down on the top.